System and method for providing dynamic user information in an interactive display

• US 20040212640A1
• Filed: 04/25/2003
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cooperman, Hillel Noah, Debry, Fabrice A., Matthews, David A., Mann, Justin, Cummins, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 7,343,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/792
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method and system for use in a computing environment to present and provide access to information that a user cares about. A scheme is provided for presenting frequently used controls and information in tiles within a sidebar. Tiles are hosted individually or in groups, within a sidebar, for interaction by a user. Tiles can be added or removed from the sidebar automatically or by user request. The present invention is further directed to a method for providing a scaleable and useable preview of tiles within a sidebar. Further still, the present invention is directed to maintaining an overflow area of icons for tiles that would not fit within the sidebar. The sidebar has content that dynamically adjusts in response to the addition, expansion, squishing or removal of tiles. Even Further, a user can customize the sidebar of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system for a user interaction scheme, comprising:

hosting a first group of tiles within a sidebar;

providing for the addition of one or more tiles to or from said side bar, resulting in a second group of tiles; and

shrinking said second group of tiles to fit within said sidebar.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said shrinking occurs if displaying said second group of tiles at their default size would result in some of said second group of tiles not being visible within the available area of said sidebar.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said shrinking is a scaling of said second group of tiles.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

displaying said sidebar with said second group of tiles in a shrunken state to provide a preview of all available tiles;

removing one or more tiles from said sidebar based upon one or more criteria, the removal resulting in a third group of tiles; and

expanding said third group of tiles to the unshrunken sizes.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said addition or removal of said one or more tiles is performed automatically by application programs.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said addition or removal of said one or more tiles is performed manually by user request.

7. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said one or more criteria is one from the group consisting of available space in said sidebar, default tile size, and tile priority.

8. A method as recited in claim 4 further comprising providing an overflow area within said sidebar.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein removed tiles are converted to icons that are placed into said overflow area.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said first group of tiles are not overlapping and can be varied in dimension to accommodate the addition of other tiles.

11. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said removed tiles are placed into a second sidebar.

12. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said sidebar comprises multiple columns and said removed tiles are placed into another column of said sidebar.

13. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said overflow area has multiple rows of icons.

14. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said overflow can grow dynamically as needed.

15. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein said shrunken group of tiles are useable as displayed and not just a bit image pictures.

16. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said shrinking maintains the aspect ratio of tiles.

17. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said shrinking is a smooth continuous transition from full scale to a squished state.

18. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the content of said sidebar dynamically adjusts in response to the addition, expansion, squishing or removal of tiles.

19. A method in a computing environment for providing information to a user, comprising:

providing a plurality of tiles in a sidebar;

providing an overflow area; and

populating said overflow are with icons that represent one or more tiles that have been bumped from said sidebar.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein prior to bumping said one or more tiles from said sidebar, said plurality of tiles are squished within said sidebar to provide a preview and notification to a user that one or more tiles will be bumped from said sidebar.

21. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein prior to being bumped from the sidebar, said one or more tiles flash to provide visual notification to a user.

22. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said one or more tiles get bumped due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed automatically by an application program.

23. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said one or more tiles get bumped due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed manually by user request.

24. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said one or more tiles that get bumped are selected according to one or more criteria one from the group consisting of available space in said sidebar, default tile size, and tile priority.

25. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said plurality of tiles are not overlapping and can be varied in dimension to accommodate the addition of other tiles.

26. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said bumped tiles are placed into a second sidebar.

27. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said sidebar comprises multiple columns and said bumped tiles are placed into another column of said sidebar.

28. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said overflow area has multiple rows of icons.

29. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein said overflow can grow dynamically as needed.

30. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein said squished tiles are useable as displayed and are not just bit image pictures.

31. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein aspect ratio of tiles are maintained when said tiles are squished.

32. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein there is a smooth continuous transition from full scale to said squished state.

33. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method in a computing system for a user interaction scheme, comprising:

hosting a first group of tiles within a sidebar;

providing for the addition or removal of one or more tiles to or from said side bar, resulting in a second group of tiles; and

shrinking said second group of tiles to fit within said sidebar.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said shrinking occurs if displaying said second group of tiles at their default size would result in some of said second group of tiles not being visible within the available area of said sidebar.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said shrinking is a scaling of said second group of tiles.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 33, further comprising:

displaying said sidebar with said second group of tiles in a shrunken state to provide a preview of all available tiles;

removing one or more tiles from said sidebar based upon one or more criteria, the removal resulting in a third group of tiles; and

expanding said third group of tiles to the unshrunken sizes.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said addition or removal of said one or more tiles is performed automatically by application programs.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said addition or removal of said one or more tiles is performed manually by user request.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said one or more criteria is one from the group consisting of available space in said sidebar, default tile size, and tile priority.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 36 further comprising providing an overflow area within said sidebar.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein removed tiles are converted to icons that are placed into said overflow area.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said first group of tiles are not overlapping and can be varied in dimension to accommodate the addition of other tiles.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said removed tiles are placed into a second sidebar.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein said sidebar comprises multiple columns and said removed tiles are placed into another column of said sidebar.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said overflow area has multiple rows of icons.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein said overflow can grow dynamically as needed.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein said shrunken group of tiles are useable as displayed and not just a bit image pictures.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said shrinking maintains the aspect ratio of tiles.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said shrinking is a smooth continuous transition from full scale to a squished state.

50. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said sidebar dynamically adjusts in response to the addition, expansion, squishing or removal of tiles.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein said sidebar can be customized by a user.

53. A system as recited in claim 51, wherein prior to placing icons in said overflow area, said plurality of tiles are squished within said sidebar to provide a preview and notification to a user that one or more tiles will be removed from said sidebar.

52. A system for providing user access to a variety of informational items, comprising:

a sidebar;

a plurality of tiles; and

an overflow area;

wherein said sidebar contains said plurality of tiles and said overflow area;

wherein one or more icons are placed in said overflow area to represent one or more tiles, when there is more viewable area needed to display said plurality of tiles than what is available within the sidebar; and

wherein said plurality of tiles and icons are accessible to a user.

54. A system as recited in claim 52, wherein prior to being removed from the sidebar, said one or more tiles flash to provide visual notification to a user.

55. A system as recited in claim 52, wherein said one or more tiles get removed due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed automatically by an application program.

56. A system as recited in claim 52, wherein said one or more tiles get removed due to an addition of a new tile, and said addition is performed manually by user request.

57. A system as recited in claim 52, wherein said one or more tiles that get removed are selected according to one or more criteria one from the group consisting of position within said sidebar, default tile size, and tile priority.

58. A computing system having computer executable instructions for performing, a method for a user interaction scheme, the method comprising:

hosting a first group of tiles within a sidebar;

providing for the addition or removal of one or more tiles to or from said side bar, resulting in a second group of tiles; and

shrinking said second group of tiles to fit within said sidebar.

59. A user interface embodied on a computer readable medium and executable on a computer, comprising:

a sidebar area displaying one or more tiles; and

an overflow area for icons representing tiles that have been removed from said sidebar area.

60. A computer-implemented method for execution in a graphical user interface environment for user interaction, comprising:

presenting on the graphical user interface a first group of tiles within a sidebar;

providing for the addition of one or more tiles to said sidebar, resulting in a second group of tiles;

shrinking said second group of tiles to fit within said sidebar if there is insufficient display area within said sidebar for default sized tiles;

presenting on the graphical user interface an overflow area for icons that represent tiles that have been moved out of said sidebar.